Tweet
EXPERT: DEATH RATE IN ARMENIAN ARMY REMAINS HIGH
arminfo
Thursday, April 5, 20:42
On April 5, Head of Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor Office,
Arthur Sakunts, presented a report on conscription process monitoring
conducted under the control of the Defense Ministry of Armenia.
The report says that over the period from 2005 to 2011 a total of
325 deaths were registered in the Armed Forces of Armenia, 72 of
them were due to hazing, 38 - due to breaching of the ceasefire,
and 29 were suicides. Given that there is an essential difference
between the death numbers fixed by the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly
Vanadzor Office and the Defense Ministry, one can say that the Defense
Ministry's data are unreliable, Sakunts said. It should be noted that
only 10 cases out of 54 were officially reported in 2010, he added.
"According to official data, some fatal casualties are qualified as
suicides or sudden deaths, however, the public does not trust these
explanations, as the journalistic and public surveys demonstrate that
the real reasons of deaths in the army are quite different", he said.
Sakunts also pointed out that the Defense Ministry is trying to
present the soldiers' death as casualties or to connect them with
external factors.
The expert said that all this proves the lack of civil and public
control over the Armed Forces of Armenia. According to the conclusions
made after the survey of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly, the Defense
Ministry does not conduct a proper inquiry into the cases of human
rights violation in the Armenian army.
To note, according to Military Prosecutor of Armenia Gevorg Kostanyan,
a total of 36 death cases were registered in the Armed Forces in 2011.
Only 10 out of the 36 soldiers died as a result of the ceasefire
violation in the Karabakh conflict zone.
From: Baghdasarian
arminfo
Thursday, April 5, 20:42
On April 5, Head of Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor Office,
Arthur Sakunts, presented a report on conscription process monitoring
conducted under the control of the Defense Ministry of Armenia.
The report says that over the period from 2005 to 2011 a total of
325 deaths were registered in the Armed Forces of Armenia, 72 of
them were due to hazing, 38 - due to breaching of the ceasefire,
and 29 were suicides. Given that there is an essential difference
between the death numbers fixed by the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly
Vanadzor Office and the Defense Ministry, one can say that the Defense
Ministry's data are unreliable, Sakunts said. It should be noted that
only 10 cases out of 54 were officially reported in 2010, he added.
"According to official data, some fatal casualties are qualified as
suicides or sudden deaths, however, the public does not trust these
explanations, as the journalistic and public surveys demonstrate that
the real reasons of deaths in the army are quite different", he said.
Sakunts also pointed out that the Defense Ministry is trying to
present the soldiers' death as casualties or to connect them with
external factors.
The expert said that all this proves the lack of civil and public
control over the Armed Forces of Armenia. According to the conclusions
made after the survey of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly, the Defense
Ministry does not conduct a proper inquiry into the cases of human
rights violation in the Armenian army.
To note, according to Military Prosecutor of Armenia Gevorg Kostanyan,
a total of 36 death cases were registered in the Armed Forces in 2011.
Only 10 out of the 36 soldiers died as a result of the ceasefire
violation in the Karabakh conflict zone.
From: Baghdasarian